MacInnis, Pronger leads Blues to 5-1 win over Rangers

ST. LOUIS -- Al MacInnis leads the St. Louis Blues in shots on goal this season, and finally one went in Thursday night for the 20-year NHL veteran defenseman.

MacInnis and fellow defenseman Chris Pronger scored their first goals of the season, sparking the Blues to a 5-1 victory over the New York Rangers in the only meeting between the teams this season.

The Blues, 4-1-1 in their last six games, outshot the Rangers, who have lost three straight, 40-15.

"Our confidence is lower than a snake's belly or maybe lower than that," Rangers coach Ron Low said. "I think St. Louis said they were going to come out early and create havoc, which is what they did."

Tyson Nash, Daniel Corso and Jamal Mayers also scored for the Blues, who have won twice at home in five games.

MacInnis, 38, who signed a two-year contract extension earlier this month, has been productive with five assists in his last three games and eight for the season. He finally scored this season at 17:49 of the second period.

"You know, I've been in this league a long time and I know that things are streaky," said MacInnis, who has 37 total shots. "You go through stretches like this where I was getting chances and lots of shots but not much luck. I know eventually, I hoped anyway, it would turn around for me. The goaltenders today are pretty good."

Despite outshooting New York 20-3 in the first, St. Louis led just 2-1 after the period on goals by Nash and Corso.

The Blues outshot the Rangers 10-0 in the first four minutes and finally broke through at 8:02 on their 12th shot. Goalie Mike Richter blocked a shot by Mike Eastwood but couldn't corral it and Nash, parked at the right side of the crease, alertly swatted it in.

Corso, back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for Monday's game against Calgary, scored his first goal of the season at 13:54 when he skated in with the puck on Richter. He collided with Richter and the puck crossed the goal line.

New York cut the lead to 2-1 when Zdeno Ciger scored on a deflection of a shot by Brian Leetch at 15:41.

Two power-play goals in the second period gave St. Louis a 4-1 lead and snapped a 0-for-9 scoreless streak on the power play.

Pronger scored at 15:11 when he was stationed to the left of the net and took a cross-ice pass from Cory Stillman. MacInnis scored when he ripped a slap shot from the top of the slot by Richter at 17:49.

"I like the way we scored on the power play -- bang bang," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "It was nice to get production from our defensemen."

Mayers put in a rebound of Sean Hill's shot at 3:14 of the third and put the Blues up 5-1.

"It's very easy to explain," Rangers captain Mark Messier said. "We got beat soundly all night. When you get beat 5-1, it's real hard to see any bright spots. This is our first crisis of the year. Unfortunately, it came early."

Brent Johnson (2-1-1) made his fourth start in goal. He saw just six shots in the first two periods.

"It's nice to get a win like that but when you don't see shots, things can happen," Johnson said. "I would have liked to see more shots but I might not have liked the outcome."

The Rangers (4-5-1) are 0-for-10 in their last four games on the power play.